Electronic distribution of information has gained in importance with the proliferation of personal computers and has undergone a tremendous upsurge in popularity as the Internet has become widely available. With the widespread use of the Internet, it has become possible to distribute large, coherent units of information, such as books, using electronic technologies. Books distributed using electronic technologies are commonly referred to as electronic books (“eBooks”). Various entities make eBooks available for download over ordinary Internet connections, such as broadband and dialup connections.
EBook reader devices attempt to mimic the experience of reading a conventional paper book through the display of electronic information on one or more electronic displays. A typical eBook reader device is a handheld digital device having a liquid crystal display panel and enough memory and processing capability to store several eBooks. Such a device is capable of retrieving and displaying an eBook or portion of an eBook for reading.
There are some advantages to using an eBook reader device over conventional paper books. An eBook reader device is often capable of storing a number of complete unabridged eBooks. Therefore, an eBook reader containing a number of stored eBooks weighs significantly less than the same number of paper books. This makes an eBook reader a particularly attractive alternative to paper books for travel, educational purposes, and professional business use. Also, because eBooks do not require the use of paper products, they may be offered at a lower price than their paper book counterparts. Furthermore, the use of eBook reader devices in conjunction with eBooks may be beneficial to the ecosystem, by reducing a number of books produced using paper products.
To date, however, eBook readers and the use of eBooks in general have not achieved widespread consumer acceptance. This is most likely attributable to the design and implementation particulars of conventional eBook reader devices. Additionally, such readers may have limited means for selection, input, and control. For example, these readers may not enable users to select particular words on a per-item basis, owing to the design of their user interfaces. Thus, if a user sees an interesting item in the text, and wishes to learn more about it, he or she may need to access another device to obtain more information about the item. For example, the user may access a personal computer (PC) to obtain this information.
As such eBook readers continue to evolve, there remains a need for improving a reader's ability to obtain additional information about items of interest using the reader itself, and without accessing other devices.